IN GREAT COMPANY: LOVE MERCY FOUNDATION

Love Mercy captured my heart in the essence of one photo. It was a simple snapshot, but the women who were the subjects of the image seemed to leap off the screen and I could hear them singing and chatting while they worked. It was happy chatter; conversation about the things women discuss like the kids and their husbands and their hopes for the future.

Knowing that the opportunity to start my own business was a privilege, I decided that whatever success The Great State enjoyed was to be shared with these like-minded women whose desire to be productive and contribute value to their family and community was precisely my motivation for creating The Great State.

Who is the Love Mercy Foundation?
Love Mercy exists to empower communities in Northern Uganda to overcome poverty caused by the horrors of war. Love Mercy sees a future where Northern Uganda is transformed through simple solutions to poverty.

What is the Cents for Seeds program?
Cents for Seeds is changing the lives of families in Uganda by empowering women and enabling them to provide for their families. Women are provided with a 30kg loan of seeds such as beans or sesame, as well as a hand held gardening tool, educational workshops, and access to savings groups.  

Why does it work?
Women in Uganda are the caretakers for their families. Cents for Seeds empowers women to reinvest their earnings into food, education, and health care. They also have access to savings and loans groups which enable them to borrow money for emergencies or larger household purchases. The women then give back their loan of seeds at the end of their first harvest so it can be passed on to another like her, making it a sustainable project while reaching more communities. Within 12 months the initial loan of $30 will have enabled a woman to release her family from poverty.

How does your purchase from The Great State help?
For every tin of Soothing Skin Balm sold here, we contribute 10% of the profits to the Cents for Seeds program. Our goal is to fund a harvest yield of 4 tonnes by the end of June, 2018. In 2018/19, we want to double that.

Thank you for partnering with us to help Love Mercy. xo